In the next ten minutes, the sound of explosions continued to echo from the direction of City A.
Some of the blasts were so close to where Xie Xishu and Qi Wu were that they could feel the ground trembling from the violent shockwaves. The air began to faintly carry the scent of gunpowder.
Several small black dots slowly passed through the bright blue sky.
Although knowing it was dangerous, Xie Xishu couldn’t care about anything else at that moment. He pressed his face against the glass window, squinting his eyes and staring intently at the small dots in the distance. Something was dropped from above, followed by more flashes, more explosions, and more rising black clouds.
Gray smoke started to spread continuously over the city.
And perhaps it was just his imagination, but Xie Xishu occasionally felt as if he could hear the continuous wails of monsters coming from the direction of the blasts.
He covered his mouth with his hand, his body trembling.
[Anyone who didn’t know better would think there was a war going on—]
During the New Year celebrations, many people in City A would spend a fortune on various firecrackers, shooting them into the sky. After the flashing lights and rising smoke were recorded and uploaded online, Xie Xishu often saw comments like this.
Back then, he thought those comments were somewhat accurate. But it wasn’t until this moment that he realized how terribly wrong he had been.
The terrifying power of weapons had nothing in common with the human-made fireworks used by ordinary people for celebrations.
And just then, Qi Wu’s expression suddenly changed.
“Watch out—”
He grabbed Xie Xishu by the shoulder, pulling him away from the glass window in the living room. Then he pressed Xie Xishu’s neck down, forcefully pinning him behind the thick leather sofa in the room.
Seconds later, a clearer sound—a roaring noise from a plane—slowly passed overhead.
Qi Wu’s muscles were tense all over. Almost instinctively, he pressed Xie Xishu further into his embrace.
Fortunately, during the breathless wait, the expected explosion did not come.
Instead, what followed was a somewhat muffled broadcast:
“Attention, citizens of City A. The human mutation outbreak has been preliminarily contained. If you are a survivor, please remain calm and listen carefully to the following instructions. Explosions and ground-clearing operations are currently underway…”
“At present, the southern end of Huanghai Avenue, the entirety of Liberation North Road, the First Ring, the Second Ring, and the western section of Tianqiao Road… have all been secured.”
“After the current cleanup is completed, please proceed immediately to the designated government shelters… I repeat, once the clearing operations are finished, proceed immediately to the designated shelters…”
“During this difficult time, we ask everyone to remain united and patient… The government will do everything it can to ensure the safety of every citizen and restore order to the city…”
Then, a rustling sound came from outside. Xie Xishu struggled to peek out from Qi Wu’s embrace, just in time to see a large number of flyers falling outside, carried by the wind.
Without thinking, and without knowing where the strength came from, he pried Qi Wu’s arm off his waist.
He staggered forward, stumbling out the door.
As if sensing his urgency, just as he dashed out of the porch, one of the flyers spun in the wind and landed right in his hand.
The content of the flyer was quite simple.
The text was almost identical to the broadcast from the plane, but it included a more detailed map marking the locations of the shelters, along with maps of City A and its surrounding areas.
It also highlighted several specific supply drop points.
As long as the survivors, who were struggling in this mutated apocalypse, followed the marked locations, they would quickly find the survivor bases and receive strong governmental aid.
“It’s the government!”
Xie Xishu murmured, and it wasn’t until the words left his mouth that he realized his voice had choked up.
“The government is clearing out the monsters!”
Unbeknownst to him, his eyes had filled with tears.
“The outside hasn’t completely fallen! The government has come to save us! Once those monsters are dead, everyone can survive…”
As he spoke, his voice gradually became hesitant and faint.
He noticed that Qi Wu, standing beside him, hadn’t said a word.
Except for the initial surprise at the first few explosions, there were no other emotions visible on Qi Wu’s face.
“Qi Wu?”
The flush of excitement on Xie Xishu’s cheeks slowly faded as he turned to look at Qi Wu’s somber expression. A sinking feeling formed in his chest.
In his excitement, he had momentarily forgotten that the companion who had been with him day and night had already undergone a fundamental change since the beginning of the mutation outbreak.
Qi Wu was no longer human. He was one of the monsters—the very creatures the military was now trying to exterminate.
The porch fell eerily silent.
It was so quiet that Xie Xishu could almost hear his own heartbeat.
“Do you want to go back?”
After staring at him for a while, Qi Wu raised an eyebrow and asked.
Xie Xishu hesitated for a long time.
No… this isn’t right…
He thought.
It wasn’t just Qi Wu who had a problem.
If his previous suspicions about his own origins were correct…
There was no way he could return to the human world. If he truly attracted monsters, or if he was in any way connected to this pandemic, returning to the human world would only bring immense danger to the innocent, precious ordinary people.
Yet, the thought of continuing to wander through this strange and terrifying apocalypse tightened Xie Xishu’s chest, making it almost impossible for him to speak.
“No, not yet.”
He heard himself whisper faintly.
“I…”
I’m afraid I really do have a problem.
Xie Xishu blinked, intending to calm himself, but the moment his lashes fluttered, tears uncontrollably streamed down his face.
There was nothing more painful than gaining hope only to have to give it up.
It was even harder to bear than being in the darkness all along, never having any hope at all.
Xie Xishu thought Qi Wu would seize the opportunity to speak.
Whether it was out of the possessiveness a monster might have for its prey, or due to the absurd, so-called feelings of love.
Even before Qi Wu had confessed, Xie Xishu had already sensed that the young man had a strong sense of possessiveness towards him.
Whenever he tried to find other human companions, Qi Wu would mock and object, and now, with this newfound reason, Qi Wu would have to keep his distance from other humans, from the world they once knew…
“If it’s that painful, why not go back to City A for a look?”
At that moment, Xie Xishu suddenly heard Qi Wu sigh in frustration.
“There’s no need to assume you have a problem right from the start. What’s there to cry about?”
“If you’re worried about a potential problem, why don’t we go back to your house first? Didn’t your mom leave a bunch of work documents in the study? If you really are some kind of experimental subject, she must have left some clues in her research files, right? If we find out for sure that you have some ability that attracts monsters, you can just stay with me. I won’t let the other monsters eat you… and if not, then…”
Qi Wu’s voice trailed off, and his expression turned a bit stiff.
He tugged at the corner of his mouth, and after a few seconds, he added half-jokingly, “…then you can decide what you want to do.”
Xie Xishu was stunned.
He didn’t pay attention to Qi Wu’s awkward and odd expression, nor did he dwell on the young man’s final words.
Qi Wu’s reminder suddenly jogged Xie Xishu’s memory: his mother often brought her work documents home. It was because of this that she had always strictly forbidden him from entering the master bedroom and the study freely.
But…
How did Qi Wu know about this?
A trace of doubt quickly flashed through Xie Xishu’s mind, but he was too agitated to care about these strange, minor details.
“Going back to City A…”
Xie Xishu unconsciously repeated the suggestion, still harboring some concerns and suspicions, but Qi Wu’s words wiped them all away.
“The place has already been cleared. We shouldn’t run into too many monsters if we go back—and you’d want to see your home again, right? What if your parents went back in the meantime and are waiting for you there?”
Qi Wu shrugged and spoke softly.
Although he knew very well that neither he nor Xie Xishu believed in that last sentence.
They had escaped step by step from school, and when they left City A, they had witnessed the city being completely overrun by monsters. Under such circumstances, unless Xie Xishu’s parents were deities, there was no way they could have magically returned from abroad.
“At worst, your house may have been bombed, but no matter what happens, I’ll still be by your side.”
Hearing this, Xie Xishu couldn’t help but glance at Qi Wu.
The boy’s attitude was so casual when he mentioned going back to City A, as if he hadn’t even considered that now, with the human army stationed there, the place might be even more dangerous for him as a monster than it had been when monsters roamed freely.
Xie Xishu’s heart felt as though an invisible finger had gently squeezed it, leaving him with a bittersweet ache.
“You… you’re really a good person, Qi Wu.”
“Huh?”
“You’re a good person.”
“Of course I am… hey, wait, take that back. Why does that sound so unlucky to me?”
*
Since they planned to return to City A, they definitely needed a reliable mode of transportation.
Qi Wu had suggested driving—he had collected quite a few car keys during their earlier “wild adventures,” including some luxury cars.
[A more expensive car would definitely drive better than the last one—]
He had argued confidently to Xie Xishu.
But Xie Xishu had stared at him for a few seconds before calmly rejecting the idea.
“Cars are too big a target, and there’s only a short stretch of road we could use. The entire city has been bombed, and the road conditions are too unpredictable.”
He explained (while wisely omitting the real reason he didn’t want Qi Wu behind the wheel again).
“We should pick something smaller and more maneuverable…”
“A motorcycle?”
Qi Wu interrupted Xie Xishu.
Then, tilting his head slightly, he winked at the boy in front of him.
“I’m actually pretty good at riding a motorcycle, you know.”
…
*
There was a guy in the neighborhood whose hobby was collecting motorcycles.
Because he lived in the same villa district, Qi Wu had occasionally come across the man’s short videos online, where he proudly showed off his collection. But while the man rambled on about his bikes, most of the comments were more focused on his looks and the location of his luxury home.
The young man wasn’t much older than Qi Wu, and his flaunting came across as borderline foolish arrogance.
So, when Qi Wu broke the lock on the man’s garage, he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of monster the man had turned into by now.
The villa hadn’t been cleared beforehand, and as the iron door creaked open, a wave of hot stench rolled out, followed by a shrill screech. A woman, hunched over, shot out like a bullet from the narrow gap.
She was emaciated, her eyes grotesquely bulging like a frog’s, perched on her temples. Her limbs had shriveled into useless fins hanging at her sides, so she could only slither across the ground like a snake.
Just as she tried to bite Xie Xishu’s ankle, Qi Wu grabbed her thick, writhing black hair, which seemed to move like a living creature.
After a brief hesitation, he turned slightly, using his body to shield Xie Xishu, and snapped the neck of the monster still wearing a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace—
*Crack.*
*
Xie Xishu heard the sound.
The sound of bones breaking within flesh.
He had killed his fair share of monsters over the past few days, but in that moment, a chill crept down his spine, and he couldn’t stop himself from shuddering.
He thought he might never get used to this.
Qi Wu searched the monster’s body but found only lipstick and a wallet—nothing useful.
Taking advantage of the fact that Xie Xishu couldn’t see his expression, Qi Wu frowned—he had already checked the area around the villa. Based on the monster behavior patterns he had learned over the past few days, unless the motorcycle enthusiast hadn’t been home during the outbreak, he should be somewhere near the villa during the day.
But Qi Wu had seen no sign of him.
The creature that had attacked was likely the man’s companion… but if the companion had been trapped in the villa, where was the man?
“There might be other monsters inside. Be careful, stay close to me.”
He turned to warn Xie Xishu.
“Okay.”
Xie Xishu responded softly and followed Qi Wu into the villa.
It was empty.
But the smell was unbearable.
Soon, they found the source of the stench—a pair of rotting corpses hung from the antlers of the deer head sculpture over the fireplace, once a hallmark of American-style décor.
The corpses’ heads drooped, their foreheads pressed against the deer antlers that had pierced through their chests.
Although the lower half of the bodies had been eaten down to the bone (most likely the work of the snake-like female monster from before), it was still apparent that they had been a middle-aged couple…
Were they the rich kid’s parents?
Qi Wu only glanced at the two corpses before turning and grabbing Xie Xishu’s hand. Xie’s palm was cold, and his expression didn’t look good.
“Don’t look.”
He whispered.
“We just need to find the car keys and leave—”
Since they hadn’t found the rich kid’s body or any indication that he’d become a monster, Qi Wu endured the stench and did a quick sweep of the villa.
After much difficulty, they found the keys and were about to head to the garage when a faint, weak whimper suddenly echoed through the large, empty villa.
“Is someone there?”
“Did someone come in…”
“Help, help…”
“Is anyone there? Please save me…”
“Help me—”
__
Author’s Note:
Qi Wu: Oh yeah, my little one thinks I’m a good person.
Also Qi Wu: Wait… something doesn’t seem right?!
